In returning to the “long overdue project” saga, I hurt myself loading the materials onto the trailer. The materials were five days late and were hours late once they finally did arrive. In not wanting to waste time, I rushed to get the materials loaded onto my friend’s car trailer. In doing so, I fell through the gap on the trailer floor and whacked my shin on the trailer’s railing. Oh boy did it hurt. I can still see the blood roll down my leg into my sock. I remember thinking, “What a stupid thing to do! I’m so dumb.”
The comedy was not over! The material was still not on the trailer. After brushing myself off, I picked up the material and walked backwards to get it on the trailer. This time I stepped onto something and proceeded to fall off, again! Now, I’m really feeling stupid. Everyone is laughing, including me. It was then they said, “We better keep the pastor away from the power tools!” This brought on more laughter. I have to admit it was kind of funny. In the span of 30 seconds I whacked my shin and almost cracked my head open.
I will have a scar on my shin in a few days. What will I remember when I see that scar? My hurried and painful falls or what a blessing it was to have the trailer in the first place? Will I focus on how inept I was or the fact that I realized I was weak, made a phone call, and the project turned out awesome? I had a choice to see it from my perspective or God’s. You know the answer from Perspective is Crucial.
We all have scars – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual – in our lives. Some put there by others and some put there by us. What are you going to do with those scars? Your answer has everything to do with your drug of choice.
You’ll experience more peace, love, security and joy if you choose to let Jesus heal them. Or you can be drawn by your enemy to your drug of choice because of the pain you feel, causing you even more pain. Keep in mind, however, the situation that caused the scar is no longer happening. Who’s causing the pain now? You are by choosing not to replace the old memory with a new one.
I chose to turn a painful and embarrassing memory into a peaceful and enjoyable one. Every time I see the scar I’ll put up my shield of faith and remember how God provided two good friends who helped me get the project done. You can make that choice as well. Once you do, you’ll experience the freedom Jesus came to give you.

Se“T” Free Nowww

I talked about how we view our challenges in yesterday’s Perspective Is Crucial. Today, I want to continue that story by focusing on the friends who helped me get the job done. I couldn’t have gotten the materials home without their help, in this case a car trailer. I couldn’t have finished the project on time without their help. The finished project wouldn’t have look so good without their help.
Want to know the hardest part of the project? Picking up the phone and asking for help! Isn’t that crazy? I couldn’t have gotten the job done without their help. My friends were more than willing to help. In fact, they love doing this kind of thing! By not calling them, I would have robbed them of the joy they would have gained from being used by Jesus. By not calling, instead of breezing through the project, I would have suffered for hours in the hot sun.
My frustration was already present from the fact my materials were five days late. It would have grown in getting those materials home in my small truck, which might not have happened; thus, incurring more costs by having to rent a vehicle. It would have continued to increase with each decision I’d have to make in getting the job done. As my frustration levels grew, I would more than likely have taken one of my drugs of choice if I had let my “I” problem get in the way and not made that call.
When we realize we’re weak, we’re ready to let others be strong for us (2 Cor. 10:9-10). The strong suck it up and end up losing. The weak ask for help and experience victory. The Bible contains over 38 one another commands. You think God is trying to tell us something? If we want to experience victory over our drugs of choice, we’ll need to pick up that phone.
This is what the body of Christ should be about – helping each other stay in Jesus’ presence to experience the abundant life He came to give us. This is what friends are for – in good time and in bad times – they allow God to use them to strengthen us to become more like Jesus. It’s a win:win situation. They feel joy by helping. We feel joy by experiencing victory. I’m still smiling over what the Lord did through my friends. Are you?

Set Free No“W”w“W”

My wife and I had a long overdue project that needed to get done this past week. We ordered the materials and planned the day to do it. We weren’t particularly overjoyed when the workday arrived, but we were happy to at least get the project done.
Then things started going south, or so we thought at the time. We went to the material yard to pick up our materials that were supposed to have been in a few days earlier, only to discover they hadn’t arrived yet.
I filtered this disappointment through my truth filter. “Okay, Lord, you must want us to take a day off.” I was more than happy to have a day to relax, but it meant losing my work partner and having to do the project myself, bummer. Then I ran it through my filter. The Lord immediately brought a couple of good friends to mind, who said they would help. Friends sure are nice to have! The saga continued, though, when the materials didn’t come in for another two days! This now put my help in jeopardy. “Lord, what’s going on here?” The frustration was building. Small choices add up to victory. Filter on. Process. Victory.
As I went to pick up the materials when they finally arrived, I began to see the purpose behind the delay. The vehicle that Jan and I went to pick them up in would never have worked; yet my friends brought a trailer that was perfect! If Jan and I had done the work on the day we had planned, our day would have been a long, long frustrating one as neither one of us is overly skilled in construction. Yet my friends were and “we” (they did most of the real work as they wouldn’t let me near the power tools! That story will come later in the week) got the job done much better, with no frustration, and in less than 4 hours. Yes!
This perfect ending started with a challenge that turned out to be a blessing. As God’s child, my Father knew better than I did what was needed to get this “simple” job done. There was no reason my materials should have been delayed five days, but they were. You can look at this project blunder as a challenge or a blessing.
I chose, though not at the time, to see it as a wonderful blessing from my Father. Challenges are the norm for believers. We can choose to see them from our perspective as annoying and something to be avoided or from God’s perspective as blessings that draw us closer to Jesus. It’s the small choices that add up to victory.

“S”et Free Nowww

I love what Christian author A.W. Tozer said about challenges, “When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christ-like, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.” Hebrews 12 talks about a loving God who draws us closer to Himself (i.e. holiness) by sanding off our rough edges and eliminating our drugs of choice through challenges.
As believers in Christ, challenges will always be part of our journey as we will not be completely like Jesus until we see Him (1 John 3:2). Since this is true, we might as well relax and enjoy the journey while Jesus cleans us up.
You are more than the sum total of your experiences because you have Christ living inside you. Yet, you are who you are and know what you know when you came to Christ and at this point in history. Think on that one for a second. Until you come into contact with the Word of God, Jesus and the Bible, how would you know to do anything other than what you are currently thinking or doing? You can’t act contrary to the way you think. Your behavior and thus your life will not change until your thinking is changed.
Our loving God has to bring challenges into our lives in order to get us to see that our way of living and thinking doesn’t work and needs changing. Once He does this, then we really have choices for the first time in our lives. We can choose Him or ourselves (Rom. 6:13).
If you love Jesus and want to be near Him, the Source of the good stuff, challenges will be the norm. Therefore, don’t fight the tough times. Choose to let Jesus use them to draw you closer to Him. Make the small choices each day, and guess what? You will taste the good stuff.

S“E”t Free Nowww

We have a tradition in our house where we watch a movie that covers each holiday. I know, Hollywood loves to take a kernel of truth and explode the story from there, which is why we must keep our filters in the “On” positions at all times.
This particular movie was about America’s War for Independence. There were quite a few memorable scenes in the movie; and one that fits with our discussion of freedom from our drugs of choice.
A young man enters a church asking for volunteers to fight on the Continental’s side. The pastor objects to the timing of the request as the British had just hung three men. No man stands up. At this point, a young woman stands and gives an awesome speech.
“I heard you often speak of freedom at my father’s table, including you Reverend. Will you now, when you are needed most, stop at only words? Is that the sort of men you are? I ask only that you act upon the beliefs of which you have so strongly spoken and which you so strongly believe.” Quite a few men stand up to volunteer, including the pastor!
We say we believe the Bible and what it teaches. We say we love Jesus. We say Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We say we want freedom from our drugs of choice. Today, right now, will you stop at only words? Real joy, real significance, real security and real peace comes only to those who put their beliefs into action (James 2:14-19). Remember, it’s the small daily faith choices we make that lead to big freedom changes in our lives.

Set Fre“E” Nowww